By Nightfall

By Nightfall (2010), a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Michael Cunningham, follows a husband and wife working in the art world in Manhattan whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of the wife's younger brother, a recovering drug addict. The book is full of literary references to John Cheever, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Miller, and many other writers.

Peter and Rebecca, a middle-aged husband and wife, have settled into a routine in New York City. A gallery owner and an art magazine editor respectively, Peter and Rebecca enjoy a certain level of status as fixtures in the Manhattan art scene. Nevertheless, they have become weary of art world parties, like the one they find themselves at during the novel's opening passages. In a private moment at the party, they confide in one another that their social scene has come to bore them. They also admit that their sex life has become stale and routine. While walking home from the party, the two witness a horrific horse-drawn carriage accident.

One day, Peter comes home from work during his lunch hour and hears the shower running. Assuming it is Rebecca in the shower, Peter enters the bathroom and, instead, sees Rebecca's younger brother Ethan, a beautiful young man whose body actually resembles Rebecca's when she was younger, Peter thinks. Nicknamed "Mizzy," short for "mistake," Mizzy was once the family's favored child until his life self-destructed thanks to drug abuse. Eager to gain a foothold "in the arts," Rebecca has invited Mizzy to stay at her and Peter's house until he accomplishes his vaguely-rendered dreams of New York art stardom. After Mizzy finishes showering, he and Peter share a polite conversation about Mizzy's recent voyage to Japan.



For the time being, Mizzy stays in the spare bedroom that belonged to Peter and Rebecca's daughter, Beatrice, who is currently away at college. Beatrice and Rebecca argue during a brief phone call, suggesting a precarious relationship. Peter returns to work but feels a pain in his stomach. These bouts of stomach pangs have become more frequent and more intense. This time, the pain forces Peter to leave in the middle of a meeting to vomit in the bathroom.

Peter returns home, wondering if his own fraught upbringing affected decisions he made in his adulthood, like choosing to marry and stay with Rebecca. Once home, he realizes he is alone with Mizzy. Peter overhears Mizzy on the phone with a drug dealer with whom he makes plans to acquire drugs. After the call, Peter listens in on Mizzy while the younger man masturbates. Peter, finding himself sexually aroused during the masturbation session, is willing to acknowledge this arousal. Despite this acknowledgment, however, Peter feels deeply ashamed and full of self-loathing for coveting his wife's brother.

When Mizzy exits the bedroom, he senses that Peter overheard both the drug deal and the masturbation. Mizzy makes vague and awkward overtures that suggest he is attracted to Peter, that the attraction is mutual. He begs Peter not to tell Rebecca about the drug deal. Peter cannot guarantee that he will be dishonest or withholding with his wife.



Over the next few weeks, Peter tries to help Mizzy immerse himself in the New York art world. One day, Peter introduces Mizzy to one of his clients, Carole, a wealthy but strange art collector. Later in the day, Peter and Mizzy kiss. Mizzy admits that he has been attracted to Peter almost since the moment they met. Peter says he feels the same way about Mizzy, but he is soon overcome with self-doubt, plummeting into a spiral of shame. He convinces Mizzy that it will be best if they repress their mutual affection for one another and pretend they never kissed. Mizzy reluctantly agrees.

Eventually, Mizzy moves out of Peter's home to stay with a friend in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Shortly thereafter, Mizzy tries to extort Peter, demanding money and threatening to tell Rebecca about the kiss if Peter tells her about Mizzy's drug relapse. Though initially torn by Mizzy's extortion attempt, Peter ultimately confesses everything to Rebecca, ending the novel on an ambiguous note.

By Nightfall is a glittering depiction of New York's art scene and a thoughtful examination of sexual fluidity.